Toshiba e740 review - first impressions

June 20, 2002 | mill london | format - Other (ar.) | viewed - 293x
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(58 votes) | category - -

Toshiba e740 review - first impressions

>Looks and Feel

Everyone has their own opinion on what is visually appealing. I find the Toshiba e740 to be a very "clean" and "simple" design. Perfect for the business minded professional that does not need flashing neon lights saying "look at me!"

From what I can tell, the body of the e740 is made of metal. I have owned two iPaq's previously and it does NOT feel like that plastic stuff the Compaq units are made of. At the top of the unit is a 1/4" piece of black plastic that encases the power led indicator, Wi-Fi indicator as well as the power button itself.

The buttons and cursor on the e740 are very functional and "clean" as well. I also like the rocker button on the left side of the e740 which acts as scroll wheel and enter button. This comes in very handy while surfing the web or reading ebooks.

On the top of the unit you will find several items. First we have the stlus silo. I have never been impressed with the stock stylus on any PDA and the Toshiba does nothing to change that trend. It is black plastic and way to light to be really comfortable. (Nothing a PDApanache design can't fix!) You will also find a Secure Digital card slot, a Compact Flash card slot (Type II) as well as stereo headphone jack, microphone and the eject button for the Compact Flash slot. In case you were wondering, the record button is on the left side of unit, just above the handy scroll wheel. There is also a switch on the lower left side/back of the e740 that was falsely reported as being a button lock. This is actually a battery lock switch. I have heard reports of users accidentally moving switch to open position and losing their data. I have not had this experience, but thought it worth mentioning. The removable battery does have some sort of built-in backup capasitor that should store your memory while replacing main battery. However, I would not spend too much time with main battery disconnected. Just my 2-centes worth! The final item on the lower left side of unit is the infrared port. I don't use this feature of a PDA very often, but it seems the iPaq 3800 design of having this at top of unit makes more sense for beaming documents, business cards, etc...

At the bottom of the e740 you will find the integrated Wi-Fi on-off switch. This turns off the built-in wireless system which helps increase battery life when you are not utilizing the wirless functionality of the unit. There is also the sync port, which I am hearing is identical to the port on the e310. This is another area where Toshiba has paid attention to detail. Around the sync port is a metal "ring" if you will that acts as a guide to bring the unit to a smooth docking position when placing e740 into the cradle. One final switch at the botton is the "hard reset" switch.

The USB cradle for the e740 is a "no frills" design. Very simple but sturdy. I like the added weight of the e740 cradle compared to my iPaq cradle. Although the iPaq cradle looks more "space age", I don't think I will ever have the Toshiba cradle tip over. And with $600+ invested in these high-end PDA's, that makes me feel better.

The AC adapter for the e740 is set up to either connect directly to the bottom of the PDA itself, or to the USB cradle. This is an improvement over the iPaq 3800 series design where I needed adapter to connect to PDA directly.

Included Software

This is one area that Toshiba let me down. Being a previous owner of the iPaq 3835, I was spoiled with applications like IBM Via-Voice, F-Secure, Dashboard, only to name a few. The only real "extra" software that comes pre-packaged with the e740 is an ATI Presentation Pack that is designed to work with the VGA/USB expansion pack for doing presentations, etc.... I have to admit that I have not yet installed the ATI program, so I cannot attest to its features or functionality. You basically get the standard Pocket PC 2002 bundle as with all the other PDA manufacturers.

One simple little program that Toshiba has pre-installed into the units memory is a program they call "Home". It has functions similar to what I would call a task manager and by default is assigned to one of the "hot buttons". There are 4 tabs at the bottom of the application: Running, Main, Programs and Games. As you probably already guessed, the Running tab allows you to selectively (or all at once) close down any/all running applications. The Main tab displays all the programs that appear on the drop down screen when you press the start logo (Programs in start menu). The Programs and Games tabs are pretty much the same. All the tabs are editable, so if you want to add or remove certain programs from the tab, you can do so. In fact, they even allow for user-definable tabs. So if you are a neat-freak like me, you can seperate all your applications by function, priority, etc....

Another utility type program that Toshiba did a nice job with is Data Backup. Of course this is the program that allows the user to store a "backup" copy of the e740 memory. It allows the user to name the backup file. A nice touch to make it more user friendly when trying to determine which backup you want to load when your system crashes (as if that ever happens!). I don't have any hard numbers to support this next statement, but the e740 backups seem to take about 25% less time than the backups I performed on my iPaq 3835.

The e740 has a nice battery guage that actually shows battery levels in increments of 1%. I was also informed of a contrast setting that Toshiba did not list in the setting directory that is possible to utilize with a little registry hacking. Check out this link for more details: Contrast Registry Hack

Expandability

Toshiba lists a High-Capacity battery pack for the e740 (Which I already have one on order) as well as the previously mentioned VGA/USB module that will allow for hookup to projectors for presentations as well as full-size keyboards, etc...

The e740 comes shipped with a slip cover type case that will definitely need to be replaced! I spent $600 on this unit, it at least deserves a nice "Vaja" case! I'm sure we will be waiting for accessories for awhile, but what can you expect when you are on the "bleeding edge".

Integrated 802.11b Wireless

All I can say is WOW! I had been using a D-Link 650W card in my iPaq 3835 for quite some time. With all this technology being built-in now, the form factor is incredible. If someone told me 6 months ago that I could have unit with SD, CFII, plus integrated Wi-fi, I would have told them they were CRAZY! But Toshiba has done it.

The range of the built-in antenna seems adequate. I have just a slightly smaller range with the e740 than I did with my D-Link card. But keep in mind how large the "mushroom" head of the D-Link card antenna is. Without a doubt, I would sacrifice the small loss in range for the smaller size!

I did experience some connection issues when I first received my e740. But later found out that it was a firmware issue with my LinkSys Router, not the e740 at all. On the e740, I set up the "connection manager" settings to all "default work settings" as I had done on my iPaq. That seems to fix any/all connection issues. But be sure you have the "proxy settings" checked for "This network connects to the internet". Otherwise, you WILL have problems.

The wireless settings program was nicely done by Toshiba. It allows for mode settings, SSID, WEP settings, etc... The integrated "power save" feature is a nice finishing touch! This adds icon to the top task bar that allows user to turn wireless radio on and off with a simple click. Again, saving precious battery life whenever possible.

Performance

With the limited amount of time I have had to play with the e740, I have to say that I am not "overwhelmed" with its performace VS my iPaq 3835. However, it is too early to say whether that is a reflection on the e740 / X-Scale / Software optimization settings / Drivers............and the specualations go on and on. But I can say overall I have experienced a noticable speed increase with the e740.

I am hoping that Toshiba comes out with upgraded battery capacity for the main battery. The internal main battery is rated at 1000mAh. I have found that if I am surfing the web on my wireless network, I can only run about 1-1/2 hours and battery is giving warning. Without wireless radio on, the battery would be sufficient.

I do have an activesync issue with my Windows 2000 desktop. Toshiba has posted an updated USB driver for the e740 that at least allows me to connect. However, the e740 does occassionally just drop the activesync connection for no apparent reason. I hope this issue is addressed by Toshiba in the near future.

Compatibility

I have tried loading most of my "favorite" programs and all seem to be working. Dashboard (1.5), Resco Zipper (3.7), Picture Perfect (5.1), MultiIE, PHM Registry Editor just to name a few. I did try loading UltraMote and received an error message. So it appears as though not all strongARM programs are going to be compatible with the new X-Scale processor. (UPDATE: UltraMote has been updated to support the e740.) At least not until the software developers have time to test/re-write their applications.

Ratings

Whats in the box?	Nice getting started manual. Special note warning of MicroDrive issue.
Design & Performance	e740 would have received 5 stars if X-Scale had lived up to expectations. And who knows, it still might. We're early in the game...
Expandability	High capacity battery and VGA/USB pack look like nice extra's.
Application Suite	Not too much in the way of extra/additional software besides the normal Pocket PC 2002 applications.
Value	With SD + CF + Wireless all built-in, the $599 price tag is more than acceptable!